LETTER: What does that say?

George Jones

Lamoni

Who are we as a people if we continue to support a president who seeks to strip away basic protections for immigrant children in U.S. custody?

This week, a federal judge will consider a request by the Trump administration to end the Flores Agreement — a policy in place for nearly 30 years that ensures children in federal custody are treated with fundamental dignity. This agreement limits how long children can be held, requires safe and sanitary conditions and mandates third-party inspections of facilities. Why would any administration seek to undo such safeguards?

Advocates have submitted harrowing testimony: children fighting for clean water, toddlers despondent, a child with swollen feet denied medical attention. These are not political abstractions — they are real children, suffering under our watch. We cannot claim to value family, decency, or the rule of law if we allow these protections to be dismantled.

To support a leader who finds oversight and humane treatment inconvenient is to erode the very moral fabric of our democracy. If we turn away now — if we become numb to cruelty in our name — what does that say about who we are?